


Scars

by Kgraces



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Batbrothers (DCU), Batfamily (DCU), Gen, Good Sibling Tim Drake, Hurt/Comfort, Jason Todd Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29326248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kgraces/pseuds/Kgraces
Summary: Tim and Jason are doing research on the effects of the Lazarus Pit, and Tim comes to a wrong conclusion
Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Comments: 36
Kudos: 380





	1. Chapter 1

Jason knocks on Tim’s door, bag of Thai takeout in hand and backpack slung over one shoulder. He hears soft footsteps and the click of the lock, and a moment later, Tim’s pale, haggard face is blinking back at him. He steps back to allow Jason into the apartment, snagging the bag of food from Jason as he does and meandering to the kitchen. 

Tim’s apartment smells like coffee, as always. The curtains are open, letting some natural light into the open space between the living area and the kitchen. Jason sits down on one of the sofas, propping his feet up on the coffee table and starting up his laptop. Tim returns with two plates and passes one to Jason.

“So, I’m a guinea pig now? Is that all I’m good for around here?” Jason asks, grinning crookedly at his little brother. Tim raises a sardonic brow. Jason recognizes the look as one of Alfred’s favorite expressions. “The lack of respect is astounding.”

“I  _ could _ always ask Ra’s for the same data. I’m sure he’d want something more diabolical than mission intel as compensation, though. Maybe he’ll want a kidney this time.” 

“Okay, fuck that. I’m helping you, idiot.” Jason rolls his eyes for good measure, ignoring Tim’s triumphant grin. “Little shit,” he grumbles into his food. Tim sticks his tongue out at him for good measure, but he’s ignored. Jason manages to wolf down enough food for a small village in record time, leaning back and waiting for his little brother to catch up. Once Tim drags Jason’s computer into his lap, he starts typing at a furious pace. 

“This data’s all current?” He asks. Tim glances up, steely blue eyes brimming with that half-crazed look he sometimes gets when he’s deep in his own thoughts. Jason nods, and Tim’s attention snaps back to the screen. He makes a few notes in a small notepad, messy scrawl unintelligible to everyone except himself. “That proves one theory, at least,” he says with a hum.

“Which one? The theory that you’re a huge dork?”

“No, the one I—hey!” Tim shoves him, and Jason laughs. “You’re the worst. But anyways, the Lazarus Pit erased all signs of childhood malnutrition. From my calculations, you’re taller than you would’ve been.”

“Still probably would’ve wound up taller than you, right?” Jason asks. Tim pointedly does not answer, which is answer enough. 

“More of an asshole, too.” Tim glances back at the laptop, combing through the data he’d requested from Jason. “Okay, it also completely wiped out all your old scars?” Jason nods, and his brother hums, scribbling another note. “Mild enhanced strength and stamina, again, just from projections I calculated a while back, but still…” 

“A little bit of enhanced healing, too,” Jason says. “Not much, but enough to be noticeable.” Tim nods, tapping the end of his pen against the paper.

“Have any of those effects deteriorated like the Pit Rage has?” 

Jason shakes his head, and Tim hops up, moving to fetch his own computer from the desk in the corner of the room. He drops back down onto the couch and rests his feet in Jason’s lap. To retaliate, Jason tugs the ends of Tim’s socks up over his heels, just to annoy him. Tim kicks him in the ribs.

“Okay,” Tim says, looking a bit like a ruffled squirrel in his exasperation. “Can you stop being obnoxious for like, two minutes?” Jason shrugs, and Tim sighs. “Next question: do you get cold easier now?” 

“What? No,” Jason says, raising a brow. He has no idea what brought that question to mind. “Why do you ask?” Tim leans over and tugs at the collar of Jason’s shirt. He gets his hand swatted at, but he makes his point.

“Turtlenecks,” Tim says. “Like, all the time. Seriously Jason, I think you need an intervention or something.” 

“Oh,” Jason replies. “Nah, that’s just to hide the scar.” 

Tim freezes. Jason groans. 

“Forget I said anything.”

“Nope, no, not happening. What scar?” Tim leans closer, eyes narrowed as he stares his brother down, and Jason drops his head into his hands.  _ “Jay, _ tell me!”

As far as Jason is concerned, he has two options. He can either tell Tim or knock him out and get out of the apartment as soon as he can, to delay the inevitable. Now that the kid knows there’s some sort of mystery on his hands, he won’t sleep until he figures it out. Sighing, he pulls down the neck of his sweater, revealing the jagged, ugly line crossing the side of his throat.

“What happened? When did you get this?” Tim asks. “That looks really bad, Jay.” 

“If I tell you,” Jason says lowly, voice tight with barely-restrained emotion, “you’ll have to swear you won’t say anything to anyone else.” He pauses, waiting for Tim’s answer, but he’s met only with wide eyes. “Swear it, Tim.” 

“I—okay?”

“You know how it was when I first came back to Gotham,” he begins. Jason hesitates, finding himself unable to look Tim in the eye as he speaks, so he glances down to where his hands rest against his knees. He can’t bring himself to see whatever emotion lurks in Tim’s face. “I tried to make Bruce choose. Me or the Joker. Should’ve been an easy choice, right?” He sighs, shoulders slumping. 

“Jason, what are you saying?” Tim’s voice is so unbearably small. He curls his fingers around Jason’s wrist.

“The scar came from a Batarang.”

“What?” Tim leaps to his feet, and Jason looks up at him, startled by the sudden movement. “You’re telling me Bruce did that to you?” Jason nods, dumbfounded, and Tim lets out a wordless shriek. “What the fuck? What the fuck, Jason.  _ What the fuck?” _

“I don’t know how to respond to that.” 

“That son of a—”

“Tim!” Jason stands and grabs him by the shoulders. He can’t begin to understand the expression on his little brother’s face, but he tries to, anyways. “Stop freaking out. You’re going to make  _ me  _ freak out.” Tim scowls at him. “Nope, stop it with that face. It happened years ago. You and I got over the whole attempted murder thing, yeah?” He waits for Tim to nod before he continues talking. “So drop it, please.”

“We talked it out, though, like civilized people,” Tim says stubbornly. “I really doubt B bothered to have a heart-to-heart with you about how he nearly killed you.” He grumbles something under his breath. He glances back up at Jason, pale eyes dark with anger. “Does he even  _ know?” _

“No,” Jason replies. “And it’s going to stay that way.” Tim crosses his arms, and Jason glowers at him. “You promised.”

“I can’t just let this slide,” Tim says hesitantly. He sighs, the fight leaving him as his shoulders droop. “It’s not right.” 

Jason scrubs a hand over his face, fingers scratching lightly over the stubble on his chin. He doesn’t know how to deal with this. He wasn’t even expecting Tim to care so much. If he’s being honest with himself, he’d been half-convinced his family would probably just see what happened as justified. It’s a thought which has always stung, but he thinks this reaction might just be worse. He feels like he can’t do anything right, like the sins of his past will haunt him for the rest of his life. No matter what he does, he’s destined to hurt the people he cares about.

“We can’t tell them. Everyone will freak the fuck out if they find out what happened, B included. I don’t want to be the cause of  _ more  _ hurt for our dumb fucking family, okay? Can we please just drop it?” Jason’s aware of how weary he sounds, but he means every word. 

“But  _ you’re _ hurt,” Tim says. “I don’t think this is something you just got over, right? It’s too messed up, even for us.” He looks so upset, so broken up over something he could’ve never changed, and it makes Jason want to wrap him up in a hug and hold him close until that look in his eyes goes away.

“I’m alright Tim. It was a long time ago. B forgave me for all the shit I did back then, so it’s the least I can do to forgive him for this.”

“He could’ve killed you,” Tim argues. He looks a bit heartbroken, a bit sick.

“It was a shitty situation,” Jason says. He hesitates for a moment before he decides to throw caution to the wind. “The worst part about it all is that he just...left me there.”

“Jason, I’m so sorry.” Tim pulls him into a hug, and it’s everything warm and safe Jason never feels when he confronts this particular memory. “You didn’t deserve that, no matter what you’ve done.” He steps back, wiping at his eyes, and Jason hates having made his little brother cry.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m alive, and I don’t want to worry the others. It’ll only upset them if they find out what happened. I can’t burden them like this. I’ve already upset  _ you, _ Tim.”

“I’m upset because I care about you, idiot. I hate that Bruce threw that Batarang, that he just left you when you could’ve been bleeding out. He almost killed you, and we’d only just gotten you back.”

“Had you?” Jason asks, tone more bitter than he intends. “Bruce didn’t see enough of me in my actions to think I was worth saving.”

“You’re always worth saving,” Tim argues. “Not just because of the code, either. You’re  _ Jason. _ You’re family, and that matters.” He softens, just a little bit. There’s still an angry edge to his eyes, but Jason knows Tim isn’t upset with him. “Your family shouldn’t hurt you like that.”

“Do you think he would’ve cared?” Jason asks, throat tight. Tim’s eyes widen, horrified. He opens his mouth to reply, but a low wheeze is the only sound he’s able to make. 

“Of course he would’ve cared! He loves you! We all love you, Jay. Do you...not know that?” 

“It’s different with B,” Jason hedges. “He loves the kid who died, not the one who came back.”

Tim makes a wounded sound, pulling Jason back into another hug. He wonders which one of them Tim is trying to comfort. He thinks it probably doesn’t matter very much. Tim holds on to him like he thinks Jason will disappear into smoke if he lets go. Like he’s a dream Tim wants to cling to until the last remnants of drowsiness get swept away by the daylight. 

Jason feels like a ghost sometimes, a shadow of himself walking around in a stranger’s skin, but seeing Tim’s reaction to what happened the night he confronted both Bruce and his own murderer, he feels some cracked part of his heart start to mend, just a little bit. It’s not fixed, not by any means, but it’s nice to know Tim cares about the man he is now, not just the one who died. He settles a hand on the top of Tim’s head, ruffling his dark hair. 

“I think we should tell Bruce,” Tim says, voice muffled from where his face is pressed against Jason’s shirt. “He can’t learn from his mistakes unless he knows what happened, and I know this is something he’d want to fix. It’s something you deserve closure for. What do you think?”

Jason gives it some thought, hesitant to either agree or disagree. He doesn’t want Bruce to get hurt all over again by the reminder of that awful night, but he thinks it’ll hurt him worse to find out any other way. He can’t do that to his dad. He heaves a sigh, heart heavy but shoulders lighter.

“Will you come with me?” Jason asks, feeling small and vulnerable. Tim nods against his chest, and Jason hugs him tighter. “Thanks Tim. I’m glad I got my second chance—not just at the whole life thing, but with my kickass little brother, too.”

“Yeah, me too.”

It’s not perfect, but it’s a start.


	2. Bonus: Alternate Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I blame this entirely on Discord

_ “The scar came from a Batarang.” _

_ “What?” Tim leaps to his feet, and Jason looks up at him, startled by the sudden movement. “You’re telling me Bruce did that to you?” Jason nods, dumbfounded, and Tim lets out a wordless shriek. “What the fuck? What the fuck, Jason. What the fuck?” _

_ “I don’t know how to respond to that.”  _

_ “That son of a—” _

_ “Tim!” Jason stands and grabs him by the shoulders. He can’t begin to understand the expression on his little brother’s face, but he tries to, anyways. “Stop freaking out. You’re going to make me freak out.” Tim scowls at him. “Nope, stop it with that face. It happened years ago. You and I got over the whole attempted murder thing, yeah?” He waits for Tim to nod before he continues talking. “So drop it, please.” _

_ “We talked it out, though, like civilized people,” Tim says stubbornly. “I really doubt B bothered to have a heart-to-heart with you about how he nearly killed you.” He grumbles something under his breath. He glances back up at Jason, pale eyes dark with anger. “Does he even know?”  _

_ “No,” Jason replies. “And it’s going to stay that way.” Tim crosses his arms, and Jason glowers at him. “You promised.” _

“I take it back. I lied. Whatever. I’m going to go fight Bruce now, and you can’t stop me. Actually, you should come with me.” He grins, wicked and sharp, and Jason wants to shake him by the shoulders until he stops looking like a particularly mean little bird. “C’mon Jay, it’ll be fun. I bet Dick would help us, and ooh, you  _ know  _ Alfred will help.” 

“We can’t tell them. Everyone will freak the fuck out if they find out what happened, B included. I don’t want to be the cause of  _ more  _ hurt for our dumb fucking family, okay? Can we please just drop it?” 

“I’m going to punch Bruce right in his stupid, emotionally illiterate, self-righteous face.”

“Calm down, feral child.” Jason sighs again and drapes an arm across Tim’s shoulders. “Let’s just—I don’t know—sit down, have some tea, and calm ourselves, okay?” He guides Tim back to the couch, watching in concern as his brother practically collapses against the cushions. “Dumbass, how long has it been since you slept?”

“Fuck you,” Tim grumbles, face pressed against a pillow. Jason snorts, some of his panic subsiding as Tim slumps over. “I’m going to the Cave as soon as you leave.” 

“Nope, you’re going to get some rest, and hopefully, you won’t be so grouchy when you wake up.”

“I’m not grouchy,” Tim says, offended. “I’m filled with righteous indignation.” He scoffs when Jason throws a blanket at him. It hits him in the face before falling into his lap. “Alfred will help me on my crusade, Jason. Be more like Alfred.”

“He’s too good for us mere mortals.”

“Stop trying to distract me, you heathen. You absolute fiend, Jason Todd. I have  _ rights.” _

“The right to be a moron, maybe.”

“A right to my  _ rage, _ Jason.” He yawns, drawing the blanket around himself. “I’m going to go absolutely apeshit. Bruce won’t know what hit him.”

“How am I being the rational one right now? Why is  _ this  _ the thing that finally made you snap?” Jason sighs, moving to the kitchen to boil some water for tea. He contemplates calling one of their family members to babysit the sleep-deprived little bird in the other room, but he doesn’t trust Tim to keep his mouth shut. 

As he busies himself with fetching mugs and bags of chamomile tea, Jason hears the sound of a phone dialing from the couch and swears. He wonders who Tim’s trying to call, hoping it’s not Alfred. 

“Alfred, hi!”

Shit.

“Do you want to hear the  _ craziest  _ thing I just learned?” He hums a little, voice just a little too cheery to be genuine. He smiles smugly at Jason when he makes eye contact, and Jason stalks over to the couch, determined to snatch the phone away from him. The kettle whistles, and Tim’s grin grows more wicked as Jason has to back off again. 

The tea gets made, and Jason tries his best to drown out the sound of Tim’s voice trying to drag Alfred into his self-proclaimed crusade. He decides to take initiative and calls Dick.

“Hello?”

“Whatever happens, do  _ not  _ listen to Tim,” Jason says, and he hangs up. He receives a flurry of confused texts after that, but he ignores them in favor of bringing Tim his mug.

“Jason, no,” Tim whines. “I don’t want sleepy leaf water.” He stops talking for a second, and then says, a bit sheepishly, “yes Alfred, I’ll drink the sleepy leaf water. If you smack him before I get back to the manor, have Damian film it. Thanks, love you, bye.” He blinks up at Jason, grin still a little too manic for comfort. “I’ve decided on a plan of attack. Emphasis on attack.”

“Tim, you’re not going to fight Bruce.” 

“Hell yes I am. Stop trying to stop me from following my dreams. I’m just gonna jump him. It’ll be great.”

“If you do that, I’m just going to catch you. Try to fight Bruce with your short little legs dangling in the air.”

“I’ll just kick him,” Tim says. “Justice for Jason is happening. Bruce is on my shit-list now, and there’s no escaping. I’ll find a way.” Jason shakes his head, exasperated but endeared. He leans over and ruffles Tim’s hair, smiling at the scandalized look he gets in return. Tim’s eyes are drooping a little more with every moment, and Jason has a feeling the kid will fall asleep before he gets the chance to stir up trouble with Bruce. 

Regardless...

“Thanks Timbit. I appreciate you sticking up for me.”

Tim just snores in response.


End file.
